Officials discuss joint fire district
By MARY GRZEBIENIAK
NEW MIDDLETOWN
About 40 people attended a meeting between New Middletown Village and Springfield Township officials to discuss forming a joint fire district.
The session Monday produced no results but left officials expressing hope that the talks would continue.
The meeting followed more than a year of talks and one meeting where township trustees didn’t show up.
Village officials made it clear that they want a joint fire district, but the township favors contracting with the village to provide it with fire and ambulance service for a fee.
A joint district would treat the village and the township as equal partners and would be governed by a board with representation from the village and the township.
Springfield Township Trustee Rick Jones said “We are not interested at the present time in a district.” He added that he would favor starting with a contract and considering a district, “maybe five years down the line.”
Township Fire Chief Matt Gebhardt agreed, stating “Our feeling is to get a contract going, and five to eight years down the road, if the people were interested, it would go to the taxpayers for a vote [on a fire district].”
But village Councilman Jack Novicky said, “Originally I thought there would be a four-year contract, then we would get together and form a district.” He questioned whether it is worth giving up the village’s fire department for a contract arrangement.
His colleague on council, Richard DeBucci agreed, adding that he does not want to put the village in a position where the township could pull out of a contract several years down the road, leaving the village without any fire service or equipment.
Springfield Township Trustee Robert Orr concluded that he considers New Middletown “my town, too.” He added that “we’re all community here. I think we should continue to talk and not give up.”